The Dot Grid Book by Behance
The Behance dot grid is an alternative to the standard graph paper notebook because it aims to reduce the background noise of traditional graph paper by using subtle light gray dots instead of solid darker lines. I know that other notebook manufacturers have come out with similar items lately, and I’ll be sure to review those as well, however I’ve had this one sitting around long enough and I wanted to share it with you already. It seems like these are no longer available so check out a great alternative which is the Rhodia Dot Grid Webbie via Amazon.
Close up of the Dot Grid Book Coil Binding
You probably cant tell from the first photo, but the cover of the Dot Grid Book has a very interesting texture to it. It feels like it is probably some type of heavy stock cardboard, covered with a rubbery material that is super smooth, almost like velvet. The only thing I don’t like about the cover though is that it gets somewhat smudgy after you handle it for a bit. I do however love the double coil binding on my notebooks because it makes for a much more sturdy and neat looking notebook. If you click on that photo above you can see how the Dot Grid Book gets its name because of the light gray dots covering the page. This version has 50 pages of high quality white 80g paper.
The Dot Grid Book has a Unique Double Perforated Line on the Edge
In the last photo there, you can see that I made two vertical dotted lines towards the left side of the page, close to the coil binding. Each line indicates an actual perforated line that runs down the length of the notebook. The first perforation all the way on the left allows you to cleanly tear off the frayed part of the page that results from ripping the page out of the Dot Grid Book. The second perforation that I’ve highlighted which is further to the right allows you to also rip off the part of the page that has the holes punched, so you have two options on how you want the finish on the edge of your paper with this notebook which I htink is a very nice little detail.
Dot Grid Book Writing Sample
The majority of the writing sample (basically the top half of the page) you see above from the Dot Grid Book was done with my recently reviewed Aurora Ipsilon EF fountain pen, and J. Herbin Orange Indien ink. The rest of the page was written with various pens including a Uniball Signo 207, Sharpie Pen Fine Point, Lamy Safari EF, PIlot Razor Point, Paper Mate Liquid Flair, and a traditional roller ball. Each of these pens wrote very nicely on the 80g paper that this notebook comes with. The thing that impressed me most about the paper though was not the fact that there was almost zero bleed through (except for a few spots where the FP ink was thick) but it was the fact that for such a dry feeling paper, there was absolutely no feathering of the inks tested. Now don’t take my “dry” description of the paper as a bad thing, but it is just the best way I could think of to describe it in comparison to something like the 90g paper that you sometimes see with Rhodia and Clairefontaine. Those aforementioned papers have a smooth and slightly glossy finish to them, while the paper here in the Dot Grid Book has no finish, which is why I was expecting a slight bit of bleed with some of the liquid inks.
The Behance Dot Grid is a great notebook that shows both creativity and quality in its design. Beyond your basic note taking and business related tasks, any designer, doodler, or statistician could probably do much more with this notebook than I did here with my simple writing, so definitely check this notebook out if you are tired of the standard old graph paper notebook.
UPDATE: It seems that the Behance Dot Grid is no longer available as far as I can see. If you are looking for a high quality notebook with the dot grid ruling, the Rhodia Webbie is an excellent choice and can be found here on Amazon.
©2017, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.
